How to Trade SLP, AXS, ETH to PHP Instantly Through BloomX

Last October, we published an article on BitPinas “Playing Axie Infinity vs Minimum Basic Salary in the Philippines.” Axie Infinity, the hit blockchain game released a cryptocurrency called “SLP” this year which can be earned simply by playing the game. Because SLP is a requirement in-game to breed Axies, provided the game is being played, there will be some level of demand for Axie breeders buying SLP to breed winning Axies.

There are a lot of Axie Infinity players in the Philippines. Some, without any means to earn during the pandemic, have looked into playing the game to earn from it. As a cryptocurrency, SLP is convertible to ETH, which is then convertible to USDT and ultimately to PHP. While the process to do so is not complicated, the fees could be a lot because of the multiple conversions.

For some players, the multi-step process could risk a loss of funds due to transaction fees or worse, transferring SLP to a wrong address. According to KooKoo, an Axie Infinity player and content creator on YouTube, he heard far too many stories of Filipinos transferring SLP directly to wrong addresses and losing their hard earned rewards. These are mistakes that could be avoided, of course, but any way to make converting SLP to PHP easier would of course be welcomed by the community.

For a brief overview of Axie Infinity and its impact in the Philippines, check out the following articles:

The NFT Game That Makes Cents for Filipinos During COVID by Leah Callon-Butler on Coindesk
Playing Axie Infinity vs Minimum Basic Salary in the Philippines by Michael Mislos on BitPinas

BloomX Supports Instant Buy and Sell for Axie Tokens (SLP, AXS)

BloomX, a licensed virtual exchange (VCE) in the Philippines, has begun offering a direct SLP to PHP buy and sell service via Facebook Messenger – skipping the ETH and USDT steps outlined above. First unveiled during a Bloomcast episode, Luis Buenaventura, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at BloomX (and host of the webcast) said this is their way of supporting the Axie community in the Philippines, which has been growing day by day.

In a message, KooKoo said he and Gabby Dizon, CEO of Altitude Games, a fellow Axie Infinity player were brainstorming ideas to make it easier for Filipinos to swap SLP since the swapping tends to be a common pain point among players. KooKoo approached Mr. Buenaventura if such a service could be launched in the Philippines.

Using the Binance infrastructure, BloomX allows users to sell their SLP, AXS (Axie Infinity Coins), ETH, or even major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for cash straight through Facebook Messenger.

Advantages:

We all have Facebook Messenger
Swap your SLP and AXS for PHP in one simple step.
BloomX deposit the payment straight to your Gcash/PayMaya or bank account
They only require basic IDs like Barangay ID* for KYC.
BloomX is a licensed VC exchange so you might find comfort that they adhere to the guidelines set up by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) regarding cryptocurrency transactions.
Better rates than doing the multiple transfer route (SLP > ETH > USDT > PHP)

*The kind of ID that BloomX will require will depend as well on the amount in the transaction you will do. For smaller amounts like Php 1,000, basic IDs will suffice.

Disadvantages:

If you sell to Bloom, they have their own indicative rates. This is different than say selling on Binance through their order book exchange, where you can specify your sell limit order.
Running on Facebook Messenger, the transaction will only be as secure as your Facebook account.
There is a Php 40 withdrawal fee, but every service like this will likely have a withdrawal fee.

How to Transfer SLP from Ronin Sidechain to Ethereum (MetaMask).

All transactions inside Axie Infinity now happens on Ronin, its own sidechain. This means before you can sell your SLP to Bloom, you have to take out the SLP from your Ronin Address to your Ethereum Address First.

Go to Axie Infinity Web Dashboard.
On the left side, there’s an option to Sync your SLP.
Transfer SLP which is on the Ronin Wallet back to Ethereum wallet (MetaMask).
After this, you can proceed with the steps below.

How to Sell SLP (or other crypto) to PHP through BloomX:

The following screenshots are obtained with permission from KooKoo’s YouTube video.

1. Start a conversation with BloomX on Facebook Messenger

Photo for the Article - How to Trade SLP, AXS, ETH to PHP Instantly Through BloomX

2. Indicate that you want to sell SLP (or AXS) for PHP. Note that you are talking to a BloomX team member here in the Philippines so you can also speak Tagalog.

3. BloomX will send its indicative rates. It is up to you to accept this or not – feel free to compare to other platforms like Binance or the rates on UniSwap and make your own informed decision.

Assuming you accepted, let’s proceed.

4. Bloom will ask you to send your SLP to their address:

5. Go to your MetaMask Wallet or Trust Wallet (We use MetaMask here).

6. Indicate the number of SLP to sent

7. Copy BloomX’s address and paste it to MetaMask

8. Indicate a Network Fee. You can choose the ones automatically provided by Metamask, as shown below. Or you can click “Advanced” and set your own network fee. If you are going the “Advanced route,” go first to https://ethgasstation.info/ to check the current fees in the Ethereum network.

9. Once that is done, click “Send”

10. Wait for the confirmation on the blockchain.

11. Go to https://etherscan.io/ and paste your Ethereum address. Then find the last transaction, which is the transaction you did for sending SLP to BloomX. Click it.

12. Copy the transaction address (on your browser, just copy the url).

13. Send this transaction address to BloomX. This acts as your receipt, a record that a transaction has taken place.

14. Wait for BloomX to check the transaction on their end. Once confirmed, BloomX will ask you where to send the payment. They can pay through GCash, PayMaya, or any bank.

15. Wait for the payment to arrive, and that’s it!

Are there other crypto you can sell via BloomX?

You can also sell your AXS, ETH, or any major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. BloomX send its service is built using the Binance infrastructure so basically any coins there can be sellable. During the webcast, however, Mr. Buenaventura said they might only allow major cryptocurrencies.

Can I BUY instead of selling?

Yes. Reach out to BloomX to know more about the service.

Any tips for selling SLP to PHP? (KooKoo’s Tips!)

KooKoo provided us with some tips before you sell your SLP for PHP:

Always double check the recipient address. Check carefully what the clipboard has copied because many have had failed transactions because of wrong copy pasting
When attempting to “sync” the SLP on your game to the blockchain, the recommended sync amount is 2,000 SLP to save on transaction or gas fees.
When asking help or for any other activity ALWAYS hide your private keys or seed phrases.
If your household has two accounts, you can send the SLP into one of the accounts to swap and save fees. In this way, when selling SLP through BloomX, you don’t need to facilitate two transactions.